Days of the Scorching Sun 1/5

A grim curse now hangs over the kingdom of Kalimshan. It all began when the Priest of Set cast his terrible spell, sealing the sun high above the desert, preventing nightfall, and threatening to scorch the kingdom into oblivion. Desperate, the King of Calimshan summoned brave volunteers to stop this curse before it destroyed his land.

Five heroes stepped forward: Anton, Camroan, Kali, Kaz, and Laurence. With Abu, the King’s small albino monkey, as their guide, the adventurers set off on royal camels into the relentless desert heat, already feeling the effects of the curse. 

The lack of nightfall quickly became a burden, and Kaz, weighed down by his armor, was forced to shed it. Their journey had barely begun when they were ambushed by desert bandits in a canyon, nestled between rocky outcrops. After a swift battle, Anton and Kali took the opportunity to strip the bandits of their clothing, perhaps as a disguise if they would later need to pass as members of the Cult of Set. Searching the bandits’ hideout, they discovered evidence that these brigands were sent by the cult specifically to prevent anyone from leaving Calimport.

As the heat intensified and mirages danced across the sands, the group spotted an inviting oasis, but Abu insisted they follow a different path. After a brief debate, they trusted their guide and pressed on in the direction he indicated. Soon, vultures began circling ominously overhead, adding to the eerie atmosphere. Kali stumbled upon a skeleton buried in the sand, which disintegrated to dust at her touch—a grim reminder of what could happen to any traveler left exposed to Set’s cursed sunlight. Anton, ever resourceful, collected the remains.

At last, they reached an ancient temple half-buried in sand, its entrance hidden. Dark voices echoed from within, but Abu refused to go any further. As they searched for a way inside, Kaz, drawing on his dwarven expertise with stone, used his tremor sense to find the concealed doorway, and Anton swiftly unlocked it with his thieves’ tools.

Moving silently down into the shadowed depths of the temple, Anton and Kali donned the bandit disguises, while Kaz put his armor back on. They attempted to blend in with the cultists, and at first, Anton and Kali’s performance seemed convincing. But when Kaz chuckled at their exchange, the cultists grew suspicious and saw through the ruse. The resulting battle was fierce. Anton and Kali, both magic-users, were quickly overpowered in melee combat and fell unconscious. But Laurence and Kaz stepped up to face the cultists, with Laurence entering a terrifying rage and Kaz casting spells to illuminate his shield, creating a blinding light that struck fear into the cultists.

One by one, the cultists fell under the combined fury of Laurence and Kaz, while Camroan, their Dwarven cleric, tended to the fallen Anton and Kali. As the battle waned, Anton—now revived—used his tools to open a glass box on the altar, revealing a statuette of Shar, the goddess of night. When the statuette dissolved, a disembodied voice of Shar filled the temple, and a soothing wave of healing restored all of the adventurers’ injuries.

Then Kaz, sensing the presence of something magical, performed a ritual to detect magic and felt an energy beyond the walls. Camroan found the mechanism to open a hidden cache, revealing a trove of treasures: Anton claimed a Pearl of Power, Kali took a spellbook containing the arcane secrets of False Life, and Kaz took a second book detailing techniques to forge medium armor resistant to desert heat. Laurence found a blood-stained parchment marked with the symbol of the Cult of Set and an ominous message: “The chosen are reborn in blood. By the hand of Set, they rise to serve.” The discovery hinted at Laurence’s past and perhaps a connection between him and the dark forces they now face.

As they emerged from the temple to regroup with Abu, they noticed that the sun had finally shifted, moving just slightly lower in the sky. It was a small but meaningful sign—perhaps the first crack in the Priest of Set’s curse. The day ended with a sense of accomplishment but also foreboding, knowing that many trials await in their quest to break the curse before the desert is lost forever to endless daylight.